Corset



Patented May 13, 1890.

O. A. 'TIERNEY.

CORSET 4 M m M m 4 w m N 2% UNITED STATES PATENT CATIIARINE A. TIERNEY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CORSET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of LettersPatent No. 427,934, dated May 13, 1890.

Application filed September 1'7, 1888- Serial No. 286,618. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CATHARINE A. TIERNEY, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Corsets; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention has among its objects to provide a construction in corsets by which the waist-line is more sharply defined and which possesses a desired degree of flexibility at the waist.

To these and other ends that will more fully appear the invention consists in the matters hereinafter set forth, and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings referred to, Figure 1 is a fragmentary front View of a corset from which a portion of the outer cloth is removed at the waist-line. Fig. 2 is a side elevation from which a portion of the outer layer of cloth is removed at the waist. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary vertical transverse section taken through the hip portion and showing the boning continuous, but sharply deflected at the waistline over the hip. Fig. 4: is a rear view of the corset, showing proximately the desired point of termination of the skirt at the back.

In corsets as heretofore made wherein the vertical boning is continuous over or adjacent to the hips, or from the body to the lower margin of the corset at and near the hips, such boning has originally and normally a curved direct-ion at said points. VVearers of these corsets have found such corsets when new to be extremely uncomfortable and stiff, and dress-makers have found them to be unsuited for fitting an outer garment to the form, because they present no well-defined waist-line, but stand out from the person at the point where such waist-line should appear. After the corset has been worn long enough to sharply bend or break the bones it is improved in respect to comfort, and if the breaking or bending of the stiffening shall have taken place at the proper points it is also improved with respect to the uses of the dress-maker.

It is one of the purposes of this invention to provide a construction by which the corset shall originally and always possess the requisites for comfort and a proper fit to the person.

Referring to the drawings for an explanation of my improvements, A represents the body or part of the corset which embraces the person above the hips.

B B are the lower portions which overlie the hips, and which, for brevity, I will here denominate the skirts.

C is the waist-line over the hips and the junction of the body A with the skirts B.

The bodyA and the skirts B may be bound, corded, or otherwise stiffened in any suitable way to give the desired rigidity to these parts, the terms boning and stiffenirrg" being used interchangeably to mean any form or character of stiffening.

As here shown, a a are small bones or their equivalent-s arranged in a generally vertical direction in the folds of the body A, and l) l) are similar stiffening devices arranged also vertically in the front and rear portions of the skirt B, leaving a middle portion or section directly over the hip preferably without special stiffening. The body may also be destitute of bones or special stiffening immediately over the hips, as in some corsets as heretofore made.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, bones a are present in the body over the hip, and they terminate at the waist-line.

C is a supplemental piece placed in the corset at the waist-line over the hips and extending outward over the hips, and also desirably extending some distance up into the body. It may be of leather crimped to the desired form, or it may be of soft rubber, hard rubber, celluloid, metal, or other suitable material molded to the desired shape to present a well-defined waist-line or angle. WVhen the boning of the body terminates or is sharply bent at the waist-line, the piece C, being placed beneath the ends or angle of the said bones, forms a guard, which prevents them from pressing into the person in lateral fleXions of the body.

In Fig. 3 the boning a b is represented as continuous and as sharply bent to conform with the angle of the guard C.

The seam or junction line C of union of the skirt with the body has a downwardly curved direction from the apex of the hip toward both the front and the rear, and the guard C may be extended the entire length of said junction-line or through such portion only thereof as may be found desirable in providing for a free movement of the body.

The body of the corset in front and the clasps A thereof preferably terminate at a point higher than is common in corsets as heretofore made, and the further desired length is supplied by the skirts, as best seen in Fig. l. The vertical front edges of the skirt are provided with eyelets or their equivalents, so that by the use of a lacing-string b the skirt may be drawn as tightly about the hips of the wearer as may be desired. At the rear the body is preferably the full length of the corset, in which case the skirts terminate at a distance from the vertical rear margins thereof, much as shown in Fig. 4.

The skirts 13 are fitted to the general form of the hips by suitable take-in scams or gores, as indicated at U, in its upper margin,or they may obviously be made of several parts or sections seamed together. Along the lower margin of the skirts are desirably inserted stiflening-bones. (Represented at U The guard C, to be properly held in place, should be fastened to a piece of cloth or canvas larger than the guard or inclined between two such layers, (one being shown at 0,) the margins of which may be stitched to the inner fold of the body and skirt after these have been joined.

The depth of the skirt is obviouslyimmaterial. The essential matter in this respect is that the guard which is placed at the lower margin of the body at the hips is in form to present a properly-defined waist-line at this point, and is extended outward over the hip far enough to afford a suitable breadth of bearing thereon and give direction to the skirt.

In the employment of a suitably-rigid guard C it is of course practicable to sharply bend the stiffening inward and confine it at the waist-line, and to thus make the boning or other stiffening continuous from the body to and down the skirt, as represented at Fig. 3. This construction is to be regarded as embraced in my invention as the equivalent of the construction wherein the stiffening terminates at the angle of the guard.

The curve or angle formed at the waist-line by the guard may obviously be less sharp than shown at Fig. 3, and an advantage of the guard or a corresponding relatively rigid part C, employed in connection with contin uous bones, will be to preserve the curve or angle given to said bones,whateverit maybe, and thus to permanently retain the original form of the corset at this point.

I claim as my invention 1. The combination, with the body and skirt of a corset, of relatively-rigid supplemental pieces running along the waist-lines at opposite sides of the corset, the upper and lower portions of said supplemental pieces uniting with each other at an angle which extends along and externally defines the waistline of the person, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with the body and skirt of a corset, of two curved relatively-rigid guards 0, running lengthwise along the waistlines at the sides of the corset, one at each side, and extending above and below said waist-lines, each of said guards being continuous from front to rear of the corset,and vertical boning in the body of the corset, which terminates at said guards, substantially as described.

The combination, with the body and skirt of a corset, of relatively-rigid pieces or guards 0', running along the waist-lines at the sides of the corset and extending above and below said lines, at which lines the upper and lower parts of the guards form an angle, boning in the body of the corset terminating at said angle, and boning in the skirt also terminating at said angle, substantially as described.

et. The combination, with the corset-bod y A, terminating at its lower margin in side curves,which pass through the waist-lineand extend downwardly and forwardly to the front vertical margins of said body, of attached skirts B B, fitted by take-in seams to the hips and provided with means for adjusting them toward and from each other at their front ends, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as myinventionI afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

(JATHARINE A. TIERNEY.

\Vitnesses:

CHAS. T. GRIFFIN, THOMAS TIERNEY. 

